Changing times demand institutional change. A look at what has come before our present system may give clues as to what changes need to be made for the future.

Arne DuncanLike the other powerful school reformers who are presently changing the course of U.S. public education, Duncan comes from a privileged background and sees education as a platform for social engineering.

Michelle RheeLike so many of the well-bankrolled frontmen leading the discussion of school reform, Michelle Rhee is a child of privilege who brings little classroom experience to her profession of telling teachers how to teach.

Sequoyah vs John Dewey[offsite link]Maeve Maddox: Sequoyah invented a phonetic-based system of reading for the Cherokee language that enabled the Cherokee nation to become literate in the course of three years. John Dewey created an educational system in which large numbers of English-speaking children are unable to learn to read after twelve years of instruction.